Wild wrong-way drive on Highway 101 leads to arrest of DUI suspect

A suspected drunken driver was arrested early Friday morning after traveling more than 2 1/2 miles in the wrong direction on Highway 101 near the Sonoma-Marin county line, the CHP said.

A CHP officer happened to be in the area and had no trouble finding the offending Toyota Camry as it traveled southbound near San Antonio Road - half in the center median and half in the northbound fast lane, authorities said.

Traffic was braking and veering to avoid the wrong-way car as it narrowly missed dozens of vehicles, the CHP said. The northbound officer tried to slow traffic by veering back and forth across the highway, then positioned his flashing patrol car directly in front of the Camry to try to stop it.

But the driver veered around him, driving wholly in the center divider at that point and barely avoiding a collision, the CHP said.

The officer made a U-turn at San Antonio Drive and drove into the southbound lane so he could travel parallel to the wrong-way driver, authorities said.

The Toyota, traveling mostly between 40 and 50 mph, eventually slowed enough that the CHP officer and his partner could jump out of their own car, get across the center divider, open the offending driver's door to turn off the engine and grab the keys, the CHP said.

The driver, first reported near Kastania Road, was identified as Sofia Kalaveras, of San Francisco. A half-empty bottle of vodka was found in the car, authorities said.

Kalaveras, 46, was eventually arrested for suspected drunken driving, driving on the wrong side of a divided highway and driving with an open alcoholic beverage in her vehicle, the CHP said.